Ducks hope Kayvon Thibodeaux win is just the beginning
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Even as Kayvon Thibodeaux was making his college announcement on national television, Oregon coach Mario Cristobal was not so sure the five-star defensive end was coming to Eugene.
Hopeful? Sure. Positive? No way.
“When he made his announcement and I saw all those people sitting there in crimson I was like, ‘Ehh, I don’t know, that’s not a good look for us right now,’” Cristobal said at Pac-12 Media Day. “We felt strongly he had a great experience at Oregon, we felt extremely good that he connected to us on a personal level as well as his opportunity level.
“I don’t know how confident I was until the very last minute. We’re blessed to have him. I’ve said this a few times and I really mean it: The most impressive thing about Kayvon is not the five stars that sit beside his name, it’s his five-star attitude and his work ethic.”
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Thibodeaux’s recruitment spanned nearly half-a-decade as national programs got involved with him early on. When he started at Los Angeles Dorsey he was already a big name. Thibodeaux was tall and athletic and physical even as an early high schooler and then he blossomed into one of the best players in the prep ranks.
The Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian standout finished as the top-ranked weak-side defensive end nationally and sixth overall after dominating at the Under Armour All-America Game.
When he announced on ESPN, people sitting around him were wearing crimson shirts – oh no, Cristobal thought, it’s going to be Alabama – but then the five-star quickly said, “I’ll be taking my talents to the University of Oregon,” everybody pulled out Oregon visors or hats and it was all over.
The Ducks beat out Alabama and Florida State, two programs that hardly lose recruiting battles especially for five-stars, among many others. Everybody wanted him and Thibodeaux is already making an impression on campus.
“Kayvon can be as great as he wants to be,” Oregon linebacker Troy Dye said. “The limitations are going to be set by himself. He’s a very special person. He’s long, he’s athletic, he’s basically a freak of nature, like the dude can do damn near anything on the field, he can run really well, he can come off the edge, he can set the edge so it’s really whatever he limits himself to do.
“He has to put on a little bit more weight because that’s the only transition problem from high school to college to put on that weight and being able to play consistently and stay healthy throughout the season. He’s definitely a special player. He can only limit himself.”
The recruiting win of getting Thibodeaux put an exclamation point on Oregon’s class that whipped everybody else in the Pac-12. He was the lone five-star signee in the entire conference. To put that in perspective, the SEC had 18 five-star signees and four schools with three or more last cycle.
Cristobal and his staff made many recruiting statements in the last year. Getting Thibodeaux was huge. Getting into powerhouse programs like Oaks Christian, Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei and many others was another one. Those are typically USC strongholds but the Ducks dominated recruiting in Southern California.
And Oregon’s coach does not plan to stop. Thibodeaux was one piece but Oregon is looking to build something special and recruiting in that area is going to be priority No. 1 while Cristobal is in charge.
“Guys like him and I could go on and on, guys like Mase Funa, Mycah Pittman, Mykael Wright, Keyon (Ware-Hudson), it goes on and on and on, Sean Dollars, all these guys, they’re really talented guys and we expect these guys to be contributors and we expect them to contribute quickly,” Cristobal said.
“They’ve played at high levels, they’ve had extraordinary coaching at the high school level, there’s a lot of pride and love for Southern California football. I absolutely love the entire state of California, just phenomenal football and great coaching. That’s why we’re so heavily invested in the area. Jonah (Tauanu’u) is another one. There’s another guy. There are a lot.”